Pictures

When Robbie wants to look handsome for pictures, he makes this face. I have no idea...

Robbie's baths have turned more into a swimming pool than a shallow bath lately (thanks Rob. Rob encourages Robbie to practice "swimming" in the tub...never a good sign). His rubber ducks are even drowning! No worries, we're always right there.

Ty going to church. I love this little old man stage...he's losing his hair so the ensemble is perfect!

Let the Punishment Fit the Crime

I can't wait until he can reach the sink and do dishes, too!

Robbie reaching for a few crackers while he works

I love my mom. We talk all the time. The most common topic of discussion recently, it seems, is dicipline. We'll be on the phone and she will hear Robbie throw some kind of a tantrum, and I start to laugh (mind you, this isn't all the time, but kids sometimes are just hilarious--even when throwing tantrums!). Well, that always starts a little lecture about how I must dare to discipline so that my kids turn out as well as hers! :) Her hot topic right now is letting the punishment fit the crime (this actually stems from my sister-in-law, Sarah). Well, I've been trying it lately, and though it is often more frustrating for me, it is more beneficial for Robbie and me in the long run. Here is an example. The other day Robbie was eating crackers. He thought it would be really cool if he could stuff them through a pipe and eat them on the other end. Well, they didn't quite fit, so he mashed the crackers into pieces, shoving them through the pipe and then dumping them all over the floor. Way fun (except Mommy didn't like it)!!! Well, instead of spanking him or something, he had to clean up the room and vacuum the crackers up. As for my laughing, though, I'm still going to have to work on that. A vacuum is heavy for a little guy, so after a minute of vacumming, Robbie realized that it was faster to just eat the crackers of the ground.

And so it continues...

Balcony view from our place in Midway

A few years ago, my little sister, Aricka, asked Rob, "So how come you are the same age as Jaron [my older brother] but he has a job, a house, and kids, and you don't have anything?" We still laugh about it, but since then, the only thing we have remedied is having kids. Why? It is simply the road we have chosen to take. Playing college ball so Rob could pay his way through school meant 6 years of undergrad. After that he worked for a year at a surgical hospital and then moved on to medical school. Eight years from now, though, we'll hopefully have a job and a house! We've been married 6 years; four of those years were in Michigan, one in Utah, and we are going on our second year in Missouri. Where to next...UTAH! Yep, Rob is going to be doing his 3rd and 4th year rotations in Provo, Utah. We are so excited to be close to family again, especially since Rob will have to be gone for about 4 months during his 4th year. We are planning on living in Midway, Utah (my parents have a place there)--a darling little Swiss town in the mountains. The boys will be able to swim and play basketball all year long and in the summer there is so much for them to do, they are going to go bonkers! We'll miss Kirksville a ton, but it is time, once again, to move on.

Son of a Doctor

I made a berry pie yesterday and Robbie spotted the leftovers in the fridge. Rob smiled and said, "Do you want some pie? Blackberries are good for you...they have lots of antioxidants." Robbie smiled, so excited that Daddy was yielding so easily and said, "Yeah, ox-ents. Make you big and frong [strong]." Pretty soon ice cream will be an excellent source of calcium!

Mr. Fix It

There are two ways to fix things in our house: band-aids and drills. Robbie sees Rob with the drill all the time. Just this weekend, I caught Robbie drilling holes in our fence out back...not exactly the safest toy for a child, but still. Anyway, this morning Rob had tried fixing some of Robbie's broken horse toys with his drill and had left it on the table (under my supervision). Later Robbie and I were coloring in his coloring book. He grabbled the white crayon (which, as most parents know, is a mystery to children since it never works on their white paper) and quickly said, "Uh oh. It's broken! Mommy, I fix it, k?" He headed for the table and started drilling the crayon. I couldn't help but laugh.

Halloween Decorations

This week Robbie and I took out the Halloween decorations and had a blast. We put orange lights in the window and spiders hanging from strings. We stuck little jack-o-lantern window stickers on our front door and put little ghosts in our front yard. All of that was cool, but when Daddy came home, they got to put spider webs all over the bush and stick plastic spiders, skeletons, and scorpions in them. So cool. Robbie just loved it.

Still-A-Bration

Robbie on the pony

Deputy Haas showing off his prizes!

I love ATSU for so many reasons, but number one would have to be that it is such a family-friendly school! This year's Still-A-Bration (like Homecoming) theme was a western corral. The whole first hour and a half they devoted to kids games: pony rides, tattoos, roping cattle, jolly jump...it was great and totally free!

Displastic Nevi

About three weeks ago I had a mole removed from the bottom of my foot. My parents had always told me that wasn't a good place to have moles, so I figured instead of "keeping an eye on it" for the next 25 years, I might as well get rid of it. It was a week of pain and discomfort, but hey, it was only a week. Well, when I went in to get the stitches out (which, by the way, ripped open the wound again), I found out that the mole was a displastic nevi with moderate atypia; in not-so-medical terms: pre-cancerous! I went home and cried because I had to have another surgery, but I was also being overly dramatic and staring at my kids like I'd never see them again. I had the second surgery on Thursday in order to clear the margins. Since I ripped my stitches last time, I can't walk on my foot for two weeks now. The pain is so intense this time it wakes me at night. So sad. Poor Rob has to be Student/Mr. Mom/Homemaker/Cook all over again. Still, better two weeks than melanoma, right?

He Says...

I'll never forget my friend DeAnne who told me, "Oh it is so fun when your kids start talking because you get to know what they are thinking." True.

Laying down the rules:

Ty is still in the wiggle stage, so his hands flail. Robbie was extra close and Ty popped him in the nose. Robbie gently said, "No hitting, Baby!"

"No more studying, Dad!"

"Move! It's mine!"

Robbie has given Ty 3 different colds (beginning when Ty was 5 weeks old!!). So, Robbie is only supposed to kiss the baby on the head or cheek. This morning I kissed Ty on the lips and Robbie couldn't believe it. "No kiss the lips, Mom!!!" he said accusingly. I had to smile.

The Dramatics:

After putting on a pair of sunglasses: "Cool Dude!" "Oh yeah! Oh yeah!"

Following a scream of pain from upstairs: "Mommy! I pushed Cohen."

"Daddy, I'm starving!!!"

"That's disgusting!" (after seeing a bug)